


Tallest One

by SkipBack



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Angst, Emotional Abuse, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares, OHHH HERE WE GO, but you know that because you definitely read doc one, dib's just tired, he also has a daughter btw, hey does anyone remember nightmare zib, piki still has the only braincell, rex still sounds like wheatley, right??????, zib not having a good time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:02:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27904933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkipBack/pseuds/SkipBack
Summary: Dib had always assumed Zib was dead. But now, after finding his alternate's insigna in a transmission seemingly from Irk, it turns out he was wrong. So now Zib's coming to Earth, and Dib (as well as his family) will have to deal with the chaos he may or may not be dragging along with him.
Relationships: OC X OC
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	1. The Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, yes. If you're here, you've read Doctor One and want to know what happens in Tallest One. But if you just saw this, and are reading it without having read Doc One prior... what are you doing???? This is the sequel to Doc One, and I'd highly suggest you read that one first because I am not doing a recap.

The air was thick with unease and uncertainty. This was very much unlike the buzzing energy of the Arena, on the day of Red and Purple's deaths, though she had never personally attended the event. She'd seen the fight from behind a screen, watching with a sick and terribly intrigued curiosity as a remarkably fat creature ended both of their lives, taking their place as the new Tallest. 

A hybrid creature... something new. Something she'd only heard of. Someone she hadn't known much about other than he earned his reputation as the galaxy's most hated creature by lashing out, by keeping everyone as far away from him as possible. She didn't know what made him tick, what his motives for challenging the Tallest were, but she'd been determined to find out. 

Of course he was the main topic of discussion. 

Advisor Yuru folded her hands together against the table, schooling her face to keep any of her emotions from showing through. Tallest One was definitely the most unusual Tallest to ever be in charge of the Irken Empire. He was still widely unknown; he kept his origins shrouded in mystery, what he was or where he was from a well kept secret. She had been hoping she'd be able to uncover everything in due time, but of course he kept his book in his second PAK, so even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to get the chance to read it. 

Yuru doubted that One even put anything interesting in that book anyway, seeing as he'd highly resented the idea of writing his feelings and things in a book in the first place. Or really anything at all, maybe other than _This book is stupid_ in big fat letters on the first page, just so everyone would know that the book was, in fact, stupid. 

One seemed like he was the kind of person who would do that. 

At least he hadn't thrown it in an incinerator. 

Eventually, the silence among the Advisors was broken by, unsurprisingly, Advisor Lupones. The blue-eyed Irken cleared his throat, tapping his claws against the metallic surface of the table. He was anxious, uncertain due to the fact no one had told him exactly what this meeting surrounding Tallest One was about. And, if Yuru knew the blue Advisor well enough, was something he was definitely going to bring up. 

"S-so...." he started. Lupones cleared his throat again as he adjusted his goggles, his antennae visibly twitching with the effort of trying to keep them upright. "So. I know this is about Our Tallest, but... ha, no one told me _exactly_ what this was about." 

Now, if Yuru knew her fellow Advisors well, the one who was most likely going to answer Lupones was Advisor Possina, the smallest and newest of the Advisors. She was what one would describe as "cute" — a round face, antennae curled into perfect delicate spirals, wide eyes that were a sweet pink color, and wore an oversized coat that matched them. She was definitely the heaviest of the Advisors, despite her height. 

This was probably just because Yuru was sitting right next to her, but Possina carried a strangely nice, sweet scent. 

The pink-eyed Advisor frequently knew what was going on, but she also frequently believed she might be wrong, so while she was going to answer correctly, she was going to answer with a lot of uncertainty. 

"I think it's... just because of what Tallest One is?" Possina said, scratching her cheek. "I'm not sure, exactly." And now, as she usually did during the meetings she participated in, when she was uncertain, she would call on "Clire?" to ask "That's true, right?" 

Advisor Clire (pronounced "cly-air" apparently) was the second tallest of the Advisors. His eyes were dark green, as well as his coat. As he usually would whenever Possina called him on, he would, without fail or without question, confirm that, yes, what she thought was incorrect was actually, in deed, correct. 

"Yes, Advisor Possina," he said. "That's true." 

Out of the corner of Yuru's eye, Possina visibly relaxed. Predictably. 

One of two Advisors was about to speak here. It was either Lupones again, asking Possina what she said meant, or it was going to be Advisor Crimm (who was, to be expected, the crimson Advisor), ready to officially start the meeting and answer Lupones' in-this-scenario unspoken question. 

Lupones had _just_ opened his mouth when Crimm stood up, clapping his hands together. "That's _exactly_ what this meeting is about," he said, clearly pretending Clire hadn't spoken and that he was answering Possina's question instead. "The fact that One isn't a pureblood Irken." 

"But why does that matter?" Lupones asked. "Tallest One challenged Red and Purple, and they accepted! He won fair and square! He's partially Irken. Clearly, if it matters he's not fully Irken, Red and Purple wouldn't have accepted the challenge. So why should it matter now?" 

"You said it yourself, Lupones," Crimm said. "One is only _partially_ Irken. He's not a pureblood. Bloop, whatever his other half is, he's more of that than Irken. We can't have some hybrid that's only _partially_ Irken. Maybe I'd accept it if he was more Irken, but he's not, so I can't." 

"Plus," Clire said, only providing evidence rather than picking a side, "One is very secretive, and, let's be honest, hasn't really... done much. So far, he only seems concerned with himself. Now, that's not surprising for a Tallest, but the fact he hasn't, y'know, done much for the Empire. At all." 

"Tallest One is a traumatized, mentally unhealthy individual," Yuru finally piped up, keeping her voice smooth and cool. "When he came to power, his mental health was frankly awful. During my interview with him, he completely broke down. As such, I had personally suggested it would be best if he, in general, could be helped. While he has been doing better, I will admit it kept him from truly doing anything for and within our Empire. It is not his fault he hasn't done anything. It is mine, as well as it is the person that hurt him. Or... people." 

"He also broke down after he was fitted with that second PAK of his," Lupones added. "That was before Advisor Yuru's interview, of course, so I'm not sure if he broke down for the same reasons." 

"Of course not," Yuru said, "unless he punched one of the screens in your lab and received a handful of glass in his palm." 

"Well... no," Lupones said quietly. "He didn't." 

Silence. Predictable silence. For most of the Advisors, they were still picking a side, processing everything they'd heard from Yuru, Lupones and Clire. Crimm, however, had already chosen his side, and as such, he was sticking with it, unless Yuru and everyone else on her side could convince him to chance his mind. 

"But it doesn't change the fact One hasn't _done_ anything," the crimson Advisor said. "And now, he's run off to another planet with a pair of Smallers, and we don't know if what he told us is true. Maybe he just lied when he said he was going to check it out, see if it's okay. Why would he do that, huh? He could just... get an Invader to go and check it out, not bring two Irkens with him and do the dirty work himself. At least, that's what a normal Tallest would do." 

"You can't expect Tallest One to be like the other Tallests the Empire's had," Lupones said. "And not just because he's the first hybrid Tallest. I think he genuinely cares about us. He doesn't see us as cogs in the machine, the way Tallests for generations have. Sure, he hasn't done anything groundbreaking. But maybe that's because he's planning something good for the Empire. For... _everyone._ I believe that Tallest One is the person to finally bring a good change to our universe, our colonies, our home! Everyone's homes! 

"Yes, Tallest One left with two Smallers to a backwater planet, but I believe he's telling the truth. He's gone to check out this lonely little planet, see what's wrong with it, see if he can fix what's wrong with it, and then come back so he may return and make things better. He's already sent out a transmission tell its residents we're coming to save and to protect them. Save and protect! Yeah, that's not invading to expand our colonies, but that's proof he's doing something now! Something good!" 

From the wide grin on his face and the tone in his voice, Lupones believed every word he was saying. And to some degree, it was. One definitely had sent out a transmission to a little planet called "Urth" (so he said it was called), but for all they knew, One was going to scope out the planet to see if was really worth saving. 

_Hey, so you know when I said I was gonna go to that little backwater planet I developed a sudden obsession with to see if it was worth saving? Yeah, I just got back, and now I've decided to take the entire Irken Armada there because we're going to shoot lasers at it until it explodes. We'll really be doing everyone a favor, trust me._

But Lupones didn't need to hear that from her. Yuru didn't want to be the one to ruin his starry-eyed view of One. 

No, that's because someone else was going to ruin how he viewed One. Or at least, try to. She could tell that, from the way Crimm was shaking his head, _he_ was going to be the one to do so. 

"One? The great savior of the galaxy?" the crimson Advisor said, his tone skeptical. "Really? Yeah, right. I highly doubt that pudgy hybrid's even hero material. He's reportedly naturally unlikeable, overall a very terrible person, and! He's not even fit to be the Tallest! You've seen the size of his stomach, right?" 

"But clearly Red and Purple didn't care about that," Lupones countered. "His weight, I mean. Perhaps they believed that, one way or another, Tallest One was a worthy challenger!" 

"Maybe they only accepted One's challenge because they thought they were going to win." 

Yuru's antennae perked up; that statement had come from the only being she couldn't predict or read, Advisor Orange (a straightforward, yet highly unoriginal name, just like Red and Purple's had been). He was quiet most of the time, blankly staring and never emoting a single emotion. Most tended to think barely anything went on inside of Orange's head. You would think he wasn't paying attention, until boom — he said things like that and made you realize he was listening after all. 

"Red and Purple were, as much as no one would have admitted it in the past, frankly rather immature and young when they came to power," Orange went on. "And they weren't the most intelligent Tallests, either. Their fight against One wasn't anything special. They hadn't expected One would have any sort of power or brutality behind him. 

"If they had, they would have picked some better armor or even have weapons, and maybe the Arena would've had a more dramatic air to it, like previous Tallest challenges. But no, they had seen something that appeared lazy, fat and slow — a costly mistake to make. They hadn't expected anything from him. They'd expected an easy fight to win. What they got was a killing machine. Purple certainly hadn't expected that." 

Everyone went quiet, but Orange said nothing more, leaving them all to their thoughts. 

Yuru had considered the possibility that Red and Purple hadn't accepted One's challenge because he appeared to be a worthy challenger... just that they thought they were gonna win. And to be honest, Yuru had thought the now-deceased Tallest were going to win as well. 

Red and Purple had admittedly been lazy; more often times than not, they'd prefer to get someone else to do it, using their status to get what they wanted. Not to say there were those occasional times where they had done something themselves, but... they were the Tallest. Why did they have to do something they could get other Irkens to do for them? 

Then there was the infamous Doctor One. Nothing was really overly known about the hybrid. Even when Yuru had dug through every source she could get her hands on within the span of two days, she hadn't been able to find much about him. All she'd found out about him was that he was definitely tall, angry, lashed out at others, and seemed to intentionally ruin the days of everyone around so they were as miserable as he was. Because of that, he'd earned quite the name for himself. 

The galaxy's most hated creature. 

Prior to researching One, all she'd known about him was his title, so she just expected that he was a giant and frankly nasty looking creature that made you gag when you even looked at him. But upon researching One, she'd happened to discover what he actually looked like, and found the title actually somewhat funny. This terrible Doctor One she'd been hearing about wasn't some disgusting monster that looked similar to a snarlbeast, drenched in slime and smelled like death. 

One was only a hybrid. Dressed in a dusty-brown jacket, a bright red sweater, goggles with blacked-out lenses and gold rims. Okay, sure. He had bulging pink veins snaking along the sides of his head, and all over his face in general, but... it was the _shape_ of his face that couldn't make her hate him. The fact he had a big, round belly. 

She'd thought he was going to die. 

The only person she'd known who had the same build as One prior to that was Possina. The pink Advisor was just a sweet, almost defenseless Irken. Something chubby and admittedly adorable couldn't possibly know how to fight. 

Bloop, Yuru wondered what her past self would say or think, had she been able to get to know One before he killed Red and Purple, the way she'd been able to before he went to Urth. One wasn't exactly defenseless. He proved that he could fight and kill. Brutally. And rather quickly, too. 

That quick brutality wasn't there after the battle. Something must've happened either after or during his battle, because he had a very bad leg and refused to get it checked out. Most would think he was using it was an excuse to get out of exercising, but she knew they were wrong. As she'd found out when she suggested that he get it checked out, One wouldn't get his leg looked at because he didn't want someone to tell him there was something wrong with it. 

_If there's something wrong, that means there's something that needs to be fixed. If there's something that needs to be fixed, that means something's broken. I don't want to be told something's wrong with me. I don't need to be told I'm broken. Speaking of which, please stop telling me what's wrong with me. You're just stressing the shit outta me now. I don't just eat a lot when I'm sad, you know._

(Yuru could distinctly remember One placing a hand on his stomach when he'd said that. She still wasn't sure what he was trying to point out, but he'd definitely put on a couple extra pounds at that point, so she was assuming he was pointing that out because he was mad about that.) 

Before he'd left for Urth, he'd been in such a great mood. Rex and Piki had even reported that he'd laughed once. Laughed! Genuine laughter! Not the weak, forced chuckle she'd heard while interviewing him. Plus, she could remember him smiling a lot. So yeah, One was capable of letting himself heal. It was just that he hadn't had a reason to actually let his heart mend. Now that he'd headed off to Urth, Yuru wasn't sure what would happen. Would he even still be the Tallest by the end of this conversation? What were the other Advisors thinking? 

"See?" Crimm piped up. "Even Red and Purple thought One was a fat, unworthy slob. So here's what I think...." He leaned over top of the table. "Once we find who among us is definitely the tallest... well, they become the new Tallest. Effective immediately after that, One will no longer be the Tallest. But to make sure everyone in the entire universe knows that, we'll have to publicly re-encode him. If you agree with that, raise your hand." 

Crimm was the first one to raise his hand. 

"But we can't do that," Lupones argued. "It's not right. One won fair and square! Besides, how're we going to explain the new Tallest? There wouldn't even be a challenge or anything! It would just be an unfair thing!" 

"Fair schmair," Crimm said. "It wasn't fair to Purple, was it? He didn't even have a chance to fight back! So who cares if we're being fair or not? Down with One, I say!" 

"He's the best Tallest we've ever had, though...." the blue Advisor said. 

Clire raised his hand. "I have to agree with Crimm," he said. "One may have been victorious, but Purple still hadn't had a chance to fight back. So down with One!" 

Orange raised his hand as well, though said nothing. 

"Possina?" Crimm said. "What's your view on this? If you keep your hand down, we'll be at a stalemate. So what do you say, huh? With or down with One? Your actions have consequences, you know. And once you choose, that'll be your final answer. Choose wisely." 

Sweat began to pour down the pink Advisor's face. Yuru was barely able to stifle a growl. Now that wasn't fair. Crimm was pressuring poor Possina into picking a side. To be for One and have them figure out another way for one side or the other to win, or to be against One and have that side emerge victorious. Crimm was right, though. What she chose next would have consequences. Whatever they were for the other side, Yuru wasn't sure if they would be good. 

"Poss—" Yuru started, definitely hoping that if she could calm the pink Advisor down, she wouldn't feel so pressured to choose a side. 

But the chubby Irken stood up, hand raised, though anxiety and uncertainty was written on her rounded face. "DOWN WITH ONE!" 

Yuru felt her spooch drop. 

Crimm smiled softly, though it seemed wicked to her. "The final votes are in. This hybrid is going down." 

Possina sat back down, leaning against Yuru's side, deflated. "I'm sorry," the pink Irken whispered. "I wasn't sure... I-I didn't know." 

"It's alright, Poss," Yuru whispered back. "He pressured you. It's not your fault." 

"I feel like it is," Possina muttered. "What'll happen to One?" 

_Yeah,_ Yuru thought to herself. _What will happen to One? He was so... sad when he came to power. A tragic soul. The fact he broke down like that... he seemed happier now, only because he's finding getting the help he needs. What'll happen when that's gone? Would he break down like that all over again? Will he get worse instead of better? What about Rex and Piki? Their SIRs?_

(Silly of her to get so sentimental, but she could remember how she'd felt her spooch melt when Rex and Piki had been reunited with their SIR units, Pocko and Wheats. Those were two Irkens that didn't belong in the Empire, because, as One had once said, they had hearts too big for their bodies. Not that Irkens had proper hearts, but Yuru understood what he'd meant, and agreed with her entire being.) 

"I will be Tallest," Orange suddenly announced. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Crimm said. "Hang on, Orange. We haven't even—" 

Orange stood up, towering over Crimm, even when the crimson Advisor stood to his full height. "I will be Tallest, as I am the tallest among the Advisors." 

"He isn't wrong," Clire said. "He actually _is_ the tallest Advisor." 

"Yeah... yeah, but—" 

"Looks like we have another Tallest with a color name," Yuru said. "Tallest Orange. Great." 

"Hang on a second—" 

"What do you think One'll say when he finds out?" Lupones asked. "He won't like it if he finds out we've replaced him behind his back!" 

"Listen! We haven't even done height measurements!" Crimm snapped. 

"Why would we?" Clire asked. "It's obvious Orange is the tallest Advisor. There's no need. Plus, you said it yourself. The tallest Advisor among us is the Tallest." 

"I will be Tallest," Orange said again. "One will no longer be. And you certainly won't be." 

Crimm growled. "Fine, then," he said. "Orange is our new Tallest. But we still have to measure him and fit him for armor, and get the proper PAK installed." 

"Then so be it," the orange Irken said. "I'm the Tallest, so therefore I must look like a Tallest." Bloop, straight to the point, wasn't he? 

"Right," Lupones grumbled. "I guess we'll do that. Come with me... _sir._ " He stood up, Orange following him out of the room. 

Yuru wrung her hands together. Everything had been so simple to her. It was as easy as lifting a finger, the pieces meshing and weaving together perfectly. She'd always been sure of everything, because it just seemed so predictable to her. Now, that certainty had been stripped away from her, and everything no longer seemed like clockwork. The fate of Rex and Piki, One, and the Irken Empire was uncertain. The future was unpredictable. 

This was, as One had once said, going to be a real shitshow.


	2. The Nightmare and the Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the truth is more terrifying than nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **!~ POTENTIAL WARNING — skin horror, body horror, blood horror, eye horror... just horror in general. Y'know, classic Nightmare stuff. along with that, we have talk of zib exploding, and perhaps some mention of suicide. also a baseball bat ~!**

He could barely make out the features of the room; it was bathed in a dim red light, making the spotlight above him the brightest part of the enter space. He'd never been in this room, or at least, he wasn't sure if he'd been here before. He in general couldn't see very well. How did he even get here? He was pretty sure he'd been in the cockpit in his shi— 

A laugh reached his ears, raspy and slow. Something steadily began creeping into the sickeningly soft red light; whoever — or whatever — it was, their footsteps were slow and heavy. He wanted to take a step back, yet at the same time didn't want to move from the red glow of the spotlight above him. He was right in the center of the room, with the spotlight all just for him, he just knew it. 

But that meant the thing creeping into the light wanted to take his spot, right? Coming ever closer, until he could eventually see their silhouette. They were tall, as tall if not taller than he was, and almost as fat. That was all he could get; he couldn't make out any features. Of course, out of nowhere, he could suddenly make out their face. 

Or rather, _its_ face. 

A large grin was carved into the thing's face, stitches keeping it permanently curved up, rounded sharp teeth filling its mouth, blackened blood dripping through the cracks. Holes in its cheeks, the skin there appearing to have been torn, showing off more of its teeth. Two bright white orbs stared back at him, almost eerie in the lighting of the room. A pair of long cowlicks stretched up from its head, gently waving as though submerged in water. 

The thing's wide grin grew impossibly wider as its head lolled over to the side. 

_**Hello there, Number One. I must say, it is quite a pleasure to finally meet you.**_

The creature's voice carried an amused tone, almost unhinged, as though it was about to laugh. Zib had flinched upon hearing "Number One," and the thing noticed; its eyes widened in false surprise, throwing its hands up to cover its mouth. 

_**Oop! I'm sorry! You don't like that name, do you? Well! Too bad! You'll have to deal with it!**_

It erupted in a fit of laughter, as though that was the funniest shit anyone had ever said in the entire multiverse, blood flying out of its mouth like spittle. 

"Wh-who are you?" he finally managed to ask. 

_**Who am I? Ohoho, that's an interesting question! I could be anything, honestly. Human, Irken... frog. Mostly the folks just call me Nightmare Zib, it's just easier that way. And it is a pretty straightforward name, wouldn't you agree?**_

Its smile, despite the stitches, managed to stretch wide enough that its right eye burst. Milky white goop and blood slowly dripped down the side of its face, which the thing barely seemed to notice. The fact it never seemed to blink didn't exactly help either. 

"R-right," Zib said, unable to look away. 

_**Anyway, I can't help but notice that you're heading off to good ol' planet Earth. It's not necessarily your Earth, now is it?**_ When he didn't answer, _**Didn't think so! Ooh! Tell me, tell me... what are you planning to do to this Earth? Take it over and build a giant prototype superweapon to accidentally destroy it?**_

"I — no! N-no...." Zib shuddered, thinking of the zapper and the destruction it had caused. "I'm not doing that." 

_**Let me guess... it's because you're different now? Frogwash. You can't even convince yourself you've changed! And because of who? Who is it we have to blame for that? I suspect I know the answer.**_ Nightmare Zib steadily began circling him, arms folded smugly behind its back. _**It's because of that Dib, isn't it? After all this time, you still think about him. Why? Why is he still on your mind? It's been years since you've last seen each other! Why haven't you been able to move on?**_

"I...." 

_**Don't know why he's still stuck in your head, when he most likely thinks the whole... Zimvoid Incident was just a vivid fever dream? Why you care what he would say about you if he could see you now?**_ The creature stood directly in front of him, putting its face in his. _**What words he'd use to describe you? Perhaps he'd say you're... fat? Lazy. Disgusting. HIDEOUS! REVOLTING! WEAK! PATHETIC! MONSTER!**_ For each word, the beast gave Zib a hard jab to the stomach. 

_Doc...._

The thing grabbed his arm, pulling him even closer. _**Because maybe he's stronger, tougher, better than you've ever been. You're nothing. Your accomplishments mean nothing. Anything you do means nothing. You don't matter. You're not important. You're just a squashed bug on his windshield.**_

_**He's done what you can never do, is what you can never be. Faster than you, cooler than you, works harder than you, BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY.**_

It pulled back a fist, striking Zib as hard as it could in the stomach, causing him to double over. 

_Doc._

_**What reason would you have to be near him? He's probably spent years without some jackass like you walking right into his life. You'd probably ruin it just by looking at him! You've ruined his life already just by existing! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYONE'S LIVES BY SIMPLY BEING THERE.**_

With a strong shove, Nightmare Zib pushed him right over, out from directly underneath the red spotlight. Stood right where Zib had been moments before, casting a shadow down upon him, PAK legs made of bones poised directly for him. 

_**So go home, Zib. Go home. Back to where you belong. Return to your timeline, and never ever come back here. I mean... why would anyone need some slimy, filthy, frankly disgusting piece of shit like yo—**_

"DOC! WAKE UP!" 

Zib jolted, disorientated. He wasn't in the red room anymore. Back in the cockpit, sitting right up. Nightmare Zib wasn't there. How'd he even... what just happened? 

A tiny hand rested on his arm. Zib turned his head, making eye contact with a small, pale-furred Irken. "Bloody hell, mate. Thank Bloop the ship's on autopilot, but still. You were moaning in your sleep again. Y'alright there?" 

Sleep... right. "Yeah, I'm good," Zib said. "Just another nightmare. No big deal." 

Rex's antennae fell back against his head. "Another nightmare? I know you're right, no big deal, but this is the fourth time," he said. "Cards on the table, I don't like it. I don't like it a lot. Definitely bad news." 

"It's probably just stress." He wasn't wrong. "Little worried. Don't wanna talk about it." 

"Yeah... okay, you have that right," the Irken said. "But... Pik and I are right here, alright?" 

Zib reached out and ruffled Rex's hair (well, he would have, if Rex had human hair), which caused the Irken to squeak and chitter in annoyance. "Alright, Rex." 

Rex swatted his hands away, backing up. But he was smiling. "You goofy, goofy hybrid. What would we do without you?" 

"For one, Piki would be dead, and you'd be doing things better doing without me—" 

"Shut up, that's not true! I'd be too busy mourning Piki!" 

"Certainly wouldn't have to deal with me being a gluttonous pig." 

"You're not that gluttonous," Rex pointed out. "You only really pig out when you're sad, or just... _verrrrrryyyyy_ stressed out. Or you're just having breakfast, and that's a pretty scary time." 

A wide, almost smug smile crossed Zib's features. "You think I might explode?" 

"Bloody hell," Rex said, putting a hand on his forehead. "That'd be a sight for sure. A horrifying, bloody sight, but a sight nonetheless. Blood, death, and so, so many organs." 

"Guess we better pray that never happens." He poked the center of Rex's face with a cheerful "Boop!" The Irken's face scrunched up, and he took another step back. 

"Yeah, 'cause if you do explode, _I_ won't be cleaning that up!" 

"Because you'd be like...." Zib stared off, doing his best impression of a startled, traumatized fish. 

Rex squawked, punching Zib's arm (though it didn't really hurt, considering he was so small). "Would not!" 

"Yes." 

Another weak punch. "No!" 

"You definitely would." 

Rex repeatedly began punching Zib's arm. Zib just started to laugh, even when his stomach started to ache. He didn't really mind, though. Laughing was still a good thing. If he was laughing, he was alright. 

A laughy One was a happy One. And if he was in any way genuinely happy, then he was healthy. That was his logic, anyway. Had been for a while. Rex and his lifemate Piki definitely agreed with him on that. He didn't really have any... intrusive thoughts. Sure, there was the occasional "what if you sniffed your dog's butt?" but it was never on the level of "what if I ended it all right now? Would anyone miss me?" 

Zib, once the hilarity of a tiny Irken punching the shit out of his arm without hurting him wore off, found himself leaning back in the pilot's seat, eyelid drooping. Fuck, he was still so tired. He gave a jaw-cracking yawn, folding his hands over his stomach. 

"Doc," the tiny Irken started, antennae drooping to his shoulders. 

"Rex, I'm fine," Zib said. "Just... just tired. That's all." 

What could he say without revealing his origins? He couldn't say he'd been up for the majority of the trip to Earth, worrying what he might find. _Who_ he might find. He still wasn't sure which timeline this was. What if he was in.... 

No. There was no way. The multiverse carried an infinite amount of timelines. The chance of landing up in the one timeline he didn't want to be in was practically zero. One in a million. One timeline out of infinity others. _There was no way._

There was still doubt settling in. No matter how many times he'd told himself how small the chance was, there was _always_ a possibility. He could be there, and honestly, throughout the majority of the trip, it terrified him. Zib didn't really think that, after all this time, he'd be ready to see his alternate again. It'd been twenty-five years, after all. He wasn't all that sure how Dib had turned out. 

Dib probably still had both his eyes, and wasn't facing occasional nightmares about his eye being ripped right out of his head (even though it'd happened _seventeen years ago_ and should've moved on at this point). Probably hadn't started resorting to comfort eating as a way to fill whatever hole had been left after the Zimvoid Incident, which definitely would result in putting on... weight. And, speaking of the Incident, what happened back in the Zimvoid probably wasn't the root of his problems, the fact he hadn't dealt with his emotions properly, and was left to become an overemotional disaster of a person. 

(Hadn't fallen in love with a four-winged space bug that had left an even bigger hole behind, leaving him in order to stay hidden from the Irken Empire.) 

But there was also the possibility Dib had been inspired by the Zimvoid Incident. Zib's heart felt like it was being violently squeezed. The thought made him feel sick to his stomach. What if, after all this time, Dib was actually busy refining Zib's original plan to wipe out the Irken Armada? What if, after Zib had sent a transmission to Earth nearly a week ago, Dib had decided they needed to hurry things along? 

What if, after twenty-five long years, instead of Dib... _he was going to see another Zib?_

_That_ thought made his stomach churn. One Zib was bad enough. His younger self had been a selfish piece of shit. Definitely someone Zib would punch in the face for being so fucking stupid, if time travel was on the table (though he didn't want to get his hands on that kind of tech. Him with that power would be dangerous). Another Zib in the multiverse wouldn't be a good thing. 

Especially if that Zib had met the "original," figured out where he went wrong, learned from his mistakes, and actually ended up being one of the most dangerous beings in the entire multiverse. 

Zib didn't think he'd be able to live with himself if that was the case. 

"Are you sure?" Rex piped up, causing Zib's train of thought to scatter. "You look... pale." 

"Just tired," Zib said again. "I'm fine. Promise." 

"You better be," Rex said. "I just... I wouldn't know what to do if you weren't. Y'know?" 

Zib shrugged. "I guess." 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rex looking up at him, brows creased. Though Zib was happier and healthier now (to some degree or another), Rex and Piki were always still worried about him. He guessed he could understand why. Zib was coming from twenty-five fucking _years_ of agony, depression and trauma. Even if he was better now, he could fall back into it at any time. 

He wondered what Rex was thinking about. 

Rex lit up, his antennae slowly moving to stand straight. "Hey, Doc! That it?" 

The Irken had to point, in order for Zib to understand what he was talking about. He felt his heart jump into his throat, a familiar blue planet straight ahead. He wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed it until now, but now that he was looking at it, he found he couldn't help but notice it. 

"Yeah," Zib said. "That... that's Earth." 

His chest felt constricted. He tried swallowing the lump in his throat. _I'm so not ready for this._

He had to be, though. The plan was to visit Earth, though if he had to be completely honest, he wasn't sure what the point of it was. There could be any number of reasons as to why he was actually going to Earth. He didn't _have to_ go, if he wanted to keep the planet safe. _There was no point._ But here he was. Perhaps it was a nostalgia trip of some kind, despite the fact it wasn't his Earth. 

Maybe he just wanted to see an Earth again. 

He had no real way of knowing what the reason truly was. 

\------------------ 

They couldn't land right away. 

Zib was insistent on that, though he wasn't quite sure what the exact reason was, they had to land at night. Piki had wondered why they couldn't land on the darker part of the planet. Zib said nothing on the matter. 

Perhaps Zib had just grown comfortable in space, and he preferred having the stars overhead. Or it was just harder to see a spaceship in the dark. Whatever the reason, _The Void Cruiser_ eventually found itself in a cozy little forest, hopefully concealed in the darkness. 

Zib watched Piki carefully put one foot in the grass, then the other, walking in a painstakingly slow way, as though expecting the ground to suddenly turn into lava. Once the dark-furred Irken decided that it was safe, he turned back, helping his lifemate out of the ship. Zib more or less jumped out, stifling a hiss as his bad leg . Rex and Piki's SIRs tumbled out onto the grass behind him, Pocko looking around and scanning the area, while Wheats stared at the nearest bush. 

"So, the best plan I've got so far is... blending in," Zib said. "Obviously we're not going to stay here long, but, y'know... if we want to see if this planet is worth saving, we gotta blend in and research it. Y'know?" 

"I dunno, One," Piki said. "What if these people don't want to be saved?" Beside him, Zib could see Rex carefully placing a weapon in his PAK. 

Zib grit his teeth, a forced, crooked smile on his face. "Right, that's _exactly what we gotta do, no questions asked._ " 

He heard leaves rustling, somewhere in the forest. He decided not to worry about it. 

"I know, I'm sorry, but," Piki went on, "we don't know anything about these people. What if there's a reason why they're not in contact with the rest of the galaxy? I'm just saying they could be dangerous, and if they know we're here, they'll probably be furious. They probably do know we're here. Maybe they've sent someone to kill us!" He gripped his lifemate's shoulders, his eyes practically bulging. "OHMYBLOOP REX WHAT IF THEY'VE SENT SOMEONE TO KILL US." 

"Pik, please." Rex took the other Irken's hands, folding them together. "If this is what Doc wants to do, then I'm all for it. Although I'm... not sure I like _this_ spot in particular. It's so... _ominous._ " 

Zib swore he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned his head to look, he didn't see anything. Probably just paranoia. 

"I don't like this," Rex went on. "Don't like this one bit. Why'd we hafta land _here?_ " 

"Because," Zib said. 

"Because why?" 

"Because I said so!" Zib snapped. "Calm down. Everything's fine. No one even knows we're here! I promise." 

Wheats suddenly hurried off. 

"Wheats!" Rex called after him. "Where're you going? Come back!" The Irken ran after the blue-eyed SIR, Piki right at his heels. 

Wheats didn't make it far, but not because Rex caught him. The robot stopped in front the bush he'd been staring at with great interest. Rex stopped beside him. "What's gotten into you?" he asked. 

Zib lumbered over. Wheats looked up at him. "The leaves." 

Rex tilted his head. "What about it?" 

"Something awaits." 

"Wheats," Rex said, crouching down to be at eye level with the SIR. "This isn't time for games." 

"The leaves," Wheats said again. "Look inside. Something awaits." 

Zib stalked closer to the bush, squinting at it. 

Rex sighed. "Wheats, please. This isn't time for riddles. Y'know,... there's probably nothing inside! Nothing's awaiting for us. Right, Doc?" His face fell as he looked up at Zib. "Doc? Th-there's nothing in there, right? Doc?" 

A blackened metallic leg stretched out from the large PAK on Zib's back. It shot into the bushes, and after a minute, his PAK lifted a small boy in an oversized trenchcoat, holding him over Zib's head. He was a scrawny looking kid; even in the dark, Zib was able to make out the mop of orange hair on his head, anxious green eyes and red glasses. 

Both the Irkens jumped back. Rex pulled the weapon he'd stored in his PAK out, pointing the end of the barrel at the boy. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?" Piki squeaked. "WE'RE GONNA GET KILLED!" 

"Oh my fucking God, would you two relax?" Zib snapped. "It's just a kid. He's not gonna hurt you." The second PAK lowered the boy so he was at eye level with Zib, who had his hands on his hips. "Are you?" 

"P-p-please don't kill me," the boy whimpered. "I-I'm sorry! Please, just don't hurt me!" 

Zib rolled his eye. "Oh, just calm down! No one's hurting anyone." He shot Rex a glare. The Irken lowered his weapon with an apologetic chuckle. "What's your name, kid?" 

"D-Damian," the boy said, understandably reluctant. "It's Damian." 

The boy was lowered to the ground. The metallic leg snaked back into its PAK. Zib crouched down to be at eye level with the kid, his voice as gentle as he could muster. "Listen, kid. Damian. I don't wanna know what you're doing here, alright? But you definitely shouldn't be." 

Damian's curiosity overcame his fear as he looked Zib over, his eyes wide with excitement. He began bouncing on the balls of his feet, clapping his hands together. 

"What are you? Who are you? Where are you from? Are you from Earth? Or are you from somewhere else? Can you tell me _your_ name? Is it some weird noise or something? Are people where you're from naturally that tall? Or are you just the super tall one? What happened to your eye?" He suddenly gasped, taking one of Zib's hands. "Are those _CLAWS???_ " 

Zib blinked once, twice. So many questions! God, where was this kid's previous caution? Pulling his hand out from Damian's grasp, Zib awkwardly chuckled. "Right, okay," he said, putting his hands up. "I can't... okay, no, listen, you really shou—" 

A baseball bat cracked down on his head, an explosion of pain filling his skull, stars in his vision. Dazed, Zib staggered back, until his legs gave out and he came crashing to the ground. 

"DOC!" Rex cried at the same time Piki screamed: " _ONE!_ " 

"Agent Mothman?! Sir!" Damian said. "Wh-what... what're you doing here?" 

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Agent Snowflake," a deeper voice grumbled. 

Damian, evidently nervous from the tone of his voice: "I-I'm sorry, sir. I was going to look for werewolves, b-b-but—" 

"Snowflake." 

"Y-yes?" 

"Go home. I have... some business I need to take care of with our 'friend' here." 

Almost immediately, Damian ran off into the night. A man leaned overhead, his face barely visible in the shadows and the dark spots in Zib's vision. Piki hissed, stepping closer to Zib, whilst Rex took aim (although his arms were shaking). 

"Oh... fuck me," Zib groaned. 

"What're you doing here?" the man demanded. 

Zib forced himself to sit up, a hand against his forehead. "Is that how you meet new people?" he asked instead. "Fucking... bash people over the head and ask them what they're doing? Nevermind the fucking concussion! Oh... _fuuuuuuuuck._ " He curled in on himself, hands pressed against his throbbing head. "Fucking dammit, just what I fucking needed, fucking... bitch. Thanks. Yeah, thank you! Mister—" 

Zib cut himself off right in the middle of speaking. 

Something clicked, the puzzle pieces falling together. 

_What if he was in...._

_"Agent Mothman?!"_

_"I have some business I need to take care of with our 'friend' here."_

_"What're you doing here?"_

Zib slowly looked back up at the man, his hands falling away from his head. All he felt now was terror and denial — he couldn't believe what he was seeing, but he knew what he was seeing, despite how much he didn't want to, was there. 

"You can't be," Zib said, as though if he said it, it would turn out to be someone else. 

But of course it was him. How could it not be? 

Looming overhead, a baseball bat tightly gripped in his hand, fury and recognition in his eyes... 

_was none other than Dib himself._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BATTA BATTA SWING!
> 
> Hey! Look who we have here! It's Damian from my first Invader Zim fanfiction, Dark Waters! What's with this kid and werewolves, amirite? And Nightmare Zib's here... with a Darkwood inspired makeover! Fun game. Never played. Never going to! I've seen Markiplier playing it. Fucking horrifying. Funny to watch Mark playing it.
> 
> Oh yeah, Dib too, I guess. 
> 
> ZIB: Wh-who are you?  
> NIGHTMARE ZIB: Who am I? WHO AM I? What are you even saying? I'm the loser of the game you didn't know you were playing! no i'm kidding i'm your worse nightmare.  
> ZIB: fuck.


End file.
